Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta) is seeking a West African airline to join its partnership with South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo), according to chairman Michael Joseph.

Nation Africa reported Joseph had told a recent investor briefing: "The intention is to invite a West African airline at some point in the future to also join. We will have a three-hub strategy of Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, and a West African hub to create better opportunities and services for our customers".

The loss-making state-owned airlines, in September 2021, signed a memorandum of cooperation with a longer-term view to co-starting a pan-African airline group that would assist each other's growth around each other's hubs.

"Africa needs something like this, and the intention is to invite a West African carrier to join," Joseph was also quoted by Kenya Digest.

Joseph reportedly said the airlines would form a holding company but continue to operate separately under their own brands. "The shareholders of the holding company will be strategic investors and individual governments that wish to retain their share," he said. The holding firm would assist the carriers with catering, maintenance, and financing services. "Our idea is to lower the overall cost of flying to attract more passengers across Africa," Joseph said.

Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka said: "We are looking at a group organisation sitting at the top of various anchor companies, and then the two airlines continue to fly as separate entities but synergise schedules and some of the costs that are common among the group so that we [can] reduce the unit cost," he said. He added that the airlines would use the lower operational costs arising from the partnership to provide lower fares.

Asked for comment, SAA Chief Commercial Officer Simon Newton-Smith said: "SAA and Kenya Airways are laying the foundation to a build a pan-African airline group and welcome potential partners from across the continent, including West Africa to enhance our service offering to our customers".

He recently told ch-aviation the goal was to achieve an extensive reciprocal codeshare partnership by June 2022. By June 2023, the goal was to harmonise schedules and terms and conditions on pricing, pending anti-trust immunity in core markets.

He said the aim was to create a pan-African network of smaller airlines, thereby creating better and affordable connectivity in Africa, but stopped short of confirming equity exchange. "I can't tell you what that's going to look like right now because that is a little bit further down the line," he said.

The South African parliament is currently scrutinising a deal by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to sell off 51% of the loss-making carrier to the Takatso Consortium comprising South African black empowerment asset firm Harith General Partners and ACMI-specialist Global Aviation Operations (GE, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo). SAA exited bankruptcy protection in September 2021 thanks to an effective ZAR14 billion rand (over three years) (USD959.5 million) state bailout to cover its debt, while Takatso is to inject ZAR3 billion (USD205.6 million) in new operating capital.

Meanwhile, the Kenyan government has reversed its plans to renationalise the airline. The carrier recorded a net loss of KES17.8 billion shillings (USD154.6 million) in 2021 and hopes to break even in 2024 by boosting its cargo business and diversifying into urban air mobility (UAM).